'Continuous play on the mind': Grocery workers put to the test as COVID-19 strains emotionsBack to video

But that’s exactly what has happened to Ewen and countless colleagues who punch the cash register, stock the shelves, and gather orders for pick-up at roughly 1,600 grocery stores in Alberta. In response to COVID-19, some are working extra hours, being redeployed from one department to another, and asked to assume rigorous disinfection duties.

Cashier Sheena Thomson, a 27-year employee and union shop steward at Safeway’s Capilano location, is in charge of changing buckets of sanitized water at each checkout stand every 30 minutes. In between customers and wearing gloves changed every 15 minutes, she wipes down areas patrons have touched. She said workers sanitize staff washrooms every time they visit them, spraying door knobs, and flush valves.

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“Every day you go into work you feel a little apprehensive. Should I be here? Am I taking something home to my family?” said Thomson, one of roughly 25,000 grocery workers in Alberta represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Canada.

“It was a little overwhelming at first because you don’t realize the impact of it,” said Thomson. “But if our store can stay virus-free it will be well worth it in the long run.”

To recognize extra strain on workers, some grocery chains have awarded temporary, additional pay. Sobeys (which also owns Safeway) calls it their “hero-pay program.” It gives all hourly workers an extra $50 a week, plus $2 an hour more for those who work more than 20 hours. Loblaws, which owns Superstore, is temporarily bumping pay for store and distribution centre employees by 15 per cent.

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Requests for interviews with major grocery chains, including Save-On-Foods and Sobeys, on how they have changed safety procedures went unanswered. But some moves are obvious. Plexiglas shields have been installed at checkouts. At Superstore, security staff count how many people enter the store, and pylons outside mark where customers must wait their turn to get inside. Inside Superstore and Safeway, floor tape marks points two metres apart near checkouts.

Teresa Spinelli, the owner of four Italian Centre Shops in the Edmonton area, took a break to talk while loading groceries into the trunks of customers accessing the store’s new curb-side service.

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Spinelli has redeployed employees who once delivered wholesale orders to now-closed restaurants into a new, home-delivery service. Customers can also order groceries over the phone and pick them up at the curb outside stores. In addition to sanitizing cashier stations, carts and baskets, the Italian Centre Shop has closed its cafes.

“We’re hard-wired to be connected and we are a gathering place,” said Spinelli, whose family has owned the chain for 60 years. “So it’s a switch for us not to be that for our customers at this time. It’s so hard.”

Emotions take their toll on grocery store workers. Ewen notes that the death Friday from COVID-19 of a 48-year-old Superstore worker in Oshawa, Ont., has hit colleagues hard. She is worried that, for grocery store workers, it’s not “if we get sick, but when we get sick.”

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“All of this is at continuous play on the mind,” said Ewen.

Thomson said her long service at the Capilano Safeway has forged strong connections with customers, and many express their gratitude that grocery workers keep the food flowing. She worries that customers, especially seniors, lack enough social connection, so makes a special effort to be responsive at the checkout.

“I go in with a smile on my face, so that I can show them I am here for them, as employees and customers,” said Thomson.

What’s your COVID story? How have you been dealing with the sudden change in daily life following the outbreak? We want to hear from you — at home, at work, behind the lines. Contact us at edm-feedback@postmedia.com

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